Record-breaking 89th straight awaits UConn women

Rich Elliott, Connecticut Post

Rich Elliott, Staff Writer

Published 12:06 am, Tuesday, December 21, 2010

NEW YORK - DECEMBER 19: Geno Auriemma, head coach of the Connecticut Huskies works the bench against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden on December 19, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Geno Auriemma
Photo: Jeff Zelevansky, Getty Images

When the comparisons are drawn, there are members of the UConn women's basketball team who wonder how they can be in the same sentence with the UCLA men's basketball teams of the 1970s. To them, the John Wooden's Bruins were amazing and it's difficult to fathom that their program has now matched the level of excellence attained by UCLA 36 years ago.

Two programs in the history of Division I basketball won 88 straight games. They are UCLA and UConn. Tonight when Geno Auriemma's top-ranked Huskies host No. 22 Florida State at the sold-out XL Center (7; ESPN2), they will look to stand alone in the history books.

"This program is just full of a lot of special people who are invested, put so much time and effort and passion into the game,'' UConn senior Maya Moore said after Sunday's 81-50 victory over Ohio State. "We would just like people to remember how much we respect and love the game. And hopefully they can see that when we play.''

Moore and her teammates won't yet permit themselves to fully absorb this magical march until sometime after the season has ended or years into the future. But many of their predecessors are looking on with great admiration what they are on the verge of accomplishing.

"It's something that's going to last them for their lifetime,'' former UCLA guard Pete Trgovich said. "I think they're getting everything they deserve. I would like to congratulate them. I hope nobody puts a negative twist on it and says it's women's basketball and not men's. It will be the longest streak in college basketball.''

The run by the Huskies (10-0) has garnered much media attention over the past several days. UConn spokesman Pat McKenna said Monday that about 65 media credentials have been issued for tonight's game, about 40 more than a normal regular season game.

Also, ESPN moved the game from ESPNU to ESPN2 to reach a bigger audience. The network is airing five hours of programming dedicated to UConn on ESPNU from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News will tape interviews during UConn's shootaround this afternoon and will have a live pregame spot. Interview requests have come in from the Today Show, the CBS Early Show, CNN, National Public Radio, Fox Sports Radio, the Dan Patrick Show and ESPN's Pardon the Interruption.

Last week there was some doubt as to whether the Huskies would receive this amount of recognition.

"I guess I'm very, very irritated about this concept that this isn't equal to the streak that they're breaking,'' DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. "I think it's a phenomenal achievement. It's an achievement by the women. The women happen to be led by a man, but it's still a women's achievement. There's definitely a gender bias going on here. And it's just wrong.''

"I just know that there wouldn't be this many people in the room if we were chasing a women's record. The reason there's everybody in this room and the reason everybody's having a heart attack the last four, five days is because a bunch of women are threatening to break a men's record. And everybody's all up in arms about it," Auriemma said. "All the women are happy as (heck), and they can't wait to come in here and ask questions. All the guys that love women's basketball are all excited. And all the miserable (people) that follow men's basketball and don't want us to break the record are all here because they're (mad). So that's just the way it is."

However, he has held firm on his stance that UConn should not be compared to UCLA.

The comparison is prefers is one that focuses the way both teams practiced and their pursuit of perfection. It's a comparison the Huskies can appreciate too.

"If you want to compare what we've tried to do here in the sense of how we have put our program together and what we expect to sustain year after year after year after year, that I think is something that I would be honored to be in that company of people who do that,'' Auriemma said. ``And any other comparison I don't necessarily like, to be honest with you.''